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Sorta like, er, lazy

By on 16 March 2011 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

The Australian

February 9 2011

UMMM, it’s a pet hate of mine. The words we use as punctuation marks instead of taking a nice, deep, aaaah, breath. I call them lazy words.

They’re verbal crutches – something to help prop up a sentence that is limping along; a resting word to lean on when one’s brain is blown.

My daughter’s generation uses that revolting word which is a teenage crime against literacy. The verbal comma “like”. “I ‘like’ want to ‘like’ go and ‘like’ see that film.” Last week one girl made me laugh out loud: “I really like like that food” – as in “I like the food, but in a kinda-like way.” “Kinda” being often paired with “like”, as a double assault on the eardrum.

An acquaintance uses the words “you know” but an even worse version – “y’nah” – in a very quick tongue-trip so it’s almost an inaudible grunt. He says it helps him think of the next word, poor thing. Continue Reading →

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Memory Lane

By on 16 March 2011 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

The Australian

January 29 2011

OVER Christmas, while visiting Melbourne, I stopped outside my nana’s old home.

I drove down the tree-lined avenue that was instantly familiar and walked the street where I played as a child. We lived for a long time in that house. My grandparents took us in when my father was trying to set up business. One of my sisters was born in the house and we played in the huge backyard, using the trees as caves, eating guavas and gooseberries from the trees, and playing imaginary cowgirls, riding the piano stool to victory. Sitting outside the house, I remembered with painful joy my nana and papa dozing by the briquette heater. Continue Reading →

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Crashed Out

By on 16 March 2011 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

The Australian

26 February 2011

IT’S like a scene from a comedy skit. But true and too precious not to share.

I’m visiting a leading hypnotherapist. Sitting here because I can’t cope. The neighbours are renovating. Each morning, before I open my eyes and remember to be horrified by all the things I need to do, the drilling has commenced, through a common wall and into my ear. Smash, crash, bang, bang.

It’s only a few months since my other neighbour renovated, and another across the street. My nerves are shot. I need something to help me think positive thoughts or even just be able to function, working at home with that racket. The clatter of the city can become excruciating. Living close to the sea, we attract backpackers who sleep in their vans on my street. They yell and play music outside my bedroom window. They urinate, or worse, on the lawn. Continue Reading →

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The Ultimate Life Changer

By on 8 March 2011 in All Posts, Animal Welfare, Life Change Blogs

Went to see my friend, and colleague Brian Sherman this week; founder of Voiceless animal rights activist group; former Director of Channel Ten and still a hot shot business identity. I interviewed him in the 80s when I was a finance journalist at the Financial Review. He was a young finance high flyer; I was an eager ambitious reporter. Both of us were obsessed with money, career and ego. 25 years later we meet again in Byron Bay and we have lunch. He was by then a staunch animal rights advocate, having moved from earthly concerns to a deeply spiritual position on the ecology of life; at the time I lived in a rainforest and had embraced Buddhism, preaching in my weekly column: “First do no harm!”

Continue Reading →

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Time Management for Life Changers

By on 7 March 2011 in All Posts, Life Change Blogs

It’s been a wild few days. Bought an Apple Mac because so much of the University course I am doing is based on using it. Another change after twenty years of being a PC user. Such a sad and funny sight, me squinting over the keyboard, losing the page and my place every other minute. A metaphor for this new world I find myself in. The main focus for me is getting a handle on time management: What to do and when? My homework, helping my daughter with her HSC homework, getting my column in each week? Eating? What should take priority? Trying to read time management guru Tim Ferriss’ best seller and Blog, The 4 Hour WorkWeek but who has time?? Continue Reading →

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The Life Change Trend

By on 2 March 2011 in All Posts, Life Change Blogs

The social phenomenon of Life Change is growing all over the world. I’ve just returned from New York where it is trendy and normal to change careers or paths after living an entire life on one track.

Back home the movement is just beginning, and I’m surprised to see how many people like me there are out there, walking with fear and excitement towards a new life: motivated by passion. Many of us have time on our hands now that children are older and are wanting to live life to the fullest having spent a lot of it on the treadmill as pinpointed by Tim Ferriss in his hugely successful Blog and book The 4-Hour WorkWeek Continue Reading →

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